LARP and the Real Boy
by TheYmp
Summary: Charlie's mind wanders and she considers Dean and role-play. Set towards the end of 8x11 "LARP and the Real Girl". Vague references to things that aren't revealed until 8x20 "Pac-Man Fever


**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or its characters - these were created by Eric Kripke - I'm just borrowing them. I'm not making any commercial gain. No harm or infringement intended.**

**Charlie's mind wanders and she considers Dean and role-play. Set towards the end of 8x11 "LARP and the Real Girl". ****Vague references to things that aren't revealed until 8x20 "Pac-Man Fever"**

**Written for the _Positively_SPN: Hunter's Journal July Short Story_ contest at positively-spn DOT livejournal DOT com/42289 DOT html. **

~#~

**LARP and the Real Boy**

Charlie tried her hardest to stifle her yawns, but they just kept coming. _It's not fitting for the Queen of Moondor to look bored in her own council meetings,_ she scolded herself, _but who knew fighting evil and saving a fairy princess could be such hard work? I don't know how the Winchesters manage._

Charlie looked over at Dean as - at her direction - he was leading the strategy planning group for tomorrow's big battle. She mused that she'd never seen the man looking so happy and relaxed.

She admired the way he held court, yet deferred to her position. Maybe she should have made him a general and not a handmaiden. _Nah! A general's supposed to delegate and not just throw himself in front of each and every bullet - er, arrow_. She'd seen the way he looked after his brother. _The man's a born nurturer; ergo, handmaiden_.

At a comment that she missed from one of the others in the group, Dean threw back his head and laughed, making his whole body shake and his eyes sparkle.

_He really is very attractive, if only he was a woman. _She shook her head ruefully, somewhat ashamed to have been perving over someone she considered a brother.

Maybe a slightly _too_ protective brother. _Boy, he'd better not try to tell me what to do; I had my fill of all that patriarchal crap back at Roman Industries._

Biting her lip, Charlie considered that was probably unfair. Dean had always seemed so clued-in about that fine line between flirting and unwanted attention; she'd seen the guy in action and he was _smooth_, but the guy could take a 'no' without a hint of malice. Not like that jerk from the other day, who'd pushed and pestered, then after the eleventy-tenth brush-off had the gall to ask her to bring a 'friend' so he could 'convert' them both. _Yeah, there was one asshole who soon limped off into the sunset,_ she chuckled to herself.

_Yep, not bad for a guy with a woeful lack of female role models in his life. Hmm, I've had crappier jobs... challenge accepted!_

Charlie forced herself back to seriousness as she noticed that for all of Dean's new, improved, relaxed persona, there was, even now, a tightness around his eyes. _What stories are there behind those lines?_ She wondered what Dean had been like before, how he and Sam'd been pulled into their unconventional life, and what had happened to him in the year they'd all been apart.

_What more has he lost? __**Who**__ has he lost?_

She knew all about epic stories of love and loss - well, she'd role-played enough in her time - but she truly knew all about the pain of longing for the return of a lost loved one. She recognized that look of self-blame like the face of an old friend.

_Everyone gets something different out of LARPing, we all get to play at being someone else and put on a mask, but Dean... he needs to take his off,_ she realized.

The meeting seemed to have come to a natural end - she'd been too lost in her own thoughts to follow the outcomes - so she smiled and bid various goodbyes as the council members took their leave. She stood and stretched, before motioning for Dean to follow her as she strode from the tent.

"You know you can talk to me, don't you?" she said in a gentle tone, tucking her arm in his as he caught up with her. "Think of me as like your way cool, older sister," she added, pulling a face to lighten the mood.

Obviously, Dean immediately felt the need to deflect. "Older? Are you sure about that?"

Charlie stopped, crossed her arms, and gave a mock-scowl. "I thought we'd settled this argument the other day?"

Dean rolled his eyes, "I'm _definitely_ the oldest."

"You _still_ don't _really_ get the whole LARPing thing, do you?" Charlie sighed in exasperation.

Dean shrugged, not getting her point.

"The idea is that it's _role-play_. Everyone can be _whatever_ they want to be..."

She raised her eyebrows and gave him a significant look. "And so can _you_."

(;,;)


End file.
